It was the chaos before the storm Sunday, as Greater Lowell shoppers cleared the shelves of some local stores as they braced for Hurricane Sandy.

The storm was expected to have made landfall on Martha's Vineyard at 2 a.m. today and reach the state's south and east coasts before noon, state officials said in a news conference Sunday.

Advising Bay Staters to avoid unnecessary travel, Gov. Deval Patrick announced the closure of all state offices Monday and requested all schools cancel classes. Most across the region complied, including local colleges like UMass Lowell, Fitchburg State College, Middlesex Community College and Mount Wachusett Community College.

With high winds anticipated, the storm could knock out power, so state officials recommended charging cellphones, stocking up on batteries and testing flashlights and portable radios in advance.

To prepare for potential power outages, area residents were out Sunday filling their cars with gas and their shopping carts with batteries, bottled water and other storm gear - when they could find it. Lisa Markham of North Andover was buying grill lighters at Discount Madness in Tewksbury with her 12year-old daughter, Leah. Out in search of last-minute storm supplies, including nonperishable foods, Markham said she'd gone to multiple stores looking for lighters.

Markham said, however, she wasn't nervous about Sandy's potential impact.

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"This is New England," she said. "You just have to be prepared."

Akey element of Markham's storm preparation this year is a generator, a recent purchase after her family lost power for several days in four of the last six years.

"I feel better having the generator," she said. "I'm done. No more losing power."

At AG Hardware Supply on Lakeview Avenue in Lowell, where a sign outside labeled the shop "Hurricane Central," store employee Scott Quintal said at least 300 customers came in Saturday for storm supplies, with more flowing in steadily Sunday morning.

As shoppers lined up at the register to purchase multiple packs of batteries and flashlights, Quintal said those items had been among the bestsellers.

AG Hardware was also selling propane, tools and generator parts. "Everything you need to keep your generator running," Quintal said, but no generators.

Though the store has been fielding frequent calls from people looking to buy a generator, Quintal said they haven't stocked any for a few years.

"They didn't really sell," he said. "But now everybody wants them and our warehouse is all sold out."

The National Weather Service in Taunton issued a highwind warning for most of the state, and said that in central Middlesex County, winds will be at their worst Monday afternoon into Monday evening.

The warning said winds in this area are expected to be from the east at 20 to 30 mph, with gusts of up to 60 mph, and "widespread power outages expected from down trees and power lines." The high-wind warning advises residents to secure any loose items outdoors, and to prepare for extended power outages.

Much of Greater Lowell, including towns around Ayer, are also under a flood watch, since the National Weather Service said rainfall of 1.5 to 3 inches is expected, with some localized areas getting up to 5 inches of rain.

"The highest rainfall totals should occur across the higher terrain, especially east-facing slopes," the National Weather Service said in a flood warning.

That rainfall is so far not predicted to cause major river flooding, but the National Weather Service said "significant urban and small stream flooding is possible."

Massachusetts National Guard Maj. Gen. L. Scott Rice said his troops were also prepared.

"I have called 200 personnel to duty today to conduct planning," Rice said in a prepared statement. "I expect to call an additional 1,000 to 2,000 to report early Monday morning. If the storm hits our state hard, it is possible that I could call around 3,000 Guardsmen to state duty."

In Fitchburg, Rocky's Ace Hardware manager Bert Roane said his store had already sold out of the handful of generators kept on hand in case of bad weather.

"If I would have had two pallets of generators, I certainly could have moved all of them," Roane said. "A lot of people are awfully, awfully skittish. People have flashbacks to 2008 or a year ago this weekend, when we got buried."

Around noon, lines of cars filling tanks backed up beyond the pumps - and into the roads -at the Haffner's gas stations on Bridge and Dutton streets in Lowell, as well as at Super Petroleum in Tewksbury.

The last two gallon jugs of water sold from the Market Basket in Chelmsford around 4 p.m., when customers then started picking up the 14 remaining 12-packs of bottled water.

At Discount Madness in Tewksbury, assistant manager Joan Andella said the store had run out of "D" batteries by Sunday, but customers kept asking for them.

"They're looking for the essentials," she said. "Everyone's saying, 'Now we're getting it!' So they want to stock up."

Despite the rush for supplies, Andella said she isn't personally concerned about how the storm will hit her Tewksbury condo. "Everything's all in, and I'm just going to stay put," she said.

Sun reporter Robert Mills contributed to this report. Follow him Twitter.com@ Robert_Mills.

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